Posted on 09/30/2004 8:40:03 PM PDT by swilhelm73
REMARKS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT FOLLOWING A PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE WATCHING PARTY
Denver Marriott City Center Denver, Colorado
7:57 P.M. MDT
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Good evening.
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, thank you. (Applause.) Well, we're delighted you were here tonight. I thought the President did a great job. (Applause.) I was fascinated to watch on the one hand John Kerry saying that he's committed to winning the war on terror, and to winning in Iraq, and then he turns around and is unrelentingly negative about the proposition, the decision.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Useless.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Useless was your comment. (Laughter.) But I thought it's -- the President made several very good points, especially saying how can you expect to get support from our allies when you consistently trash our allies' efforts? (Applause.)
And the real bottom-line decision in terms of what this election is all about is who is going to be Commander-in-Chief, who do we want to have in the Oval Office making those life decisions -- life-and-death decisions for the United States, for our people, and the man who makes the decisions about when we're going to send troops in harm's way. And I don't think you can look at that debate tonight and conclude anything other than on the one case we've got in George Bush a man who has done it, who has been there, done it four different -- for four different years now, and done a superb job, made the right decisions for America; is absolutely committed to taking offensive action whenever it's necessary in order to defend the United States of America, and the wanna-be Senator who says -- (laughter) -- says that in response to the question on preemptive action, he would support it as long as it passed some kind of global test.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: What George Bush has made clear repeatedly is that we're perfectly prepared to seek international support for international efforts. We've got a great alliance -- we've got 30 countries fighting alongside of us in Iraq. And we're prepared to work to lead a coalition, but we will never submit to the objections of a few. We will never seek a permission slip to defend the United States of America. (Applause.)
So I want to thank all of you for being here tonight. I've got to go do some interviews. And of course, I would invite all of you to watch next Tuesday when we'll do it all over again from Cleveland. (Applause.) John Edwards and myself -- I'm very, very proud to have had the privilege of serving alongside this President. And I'm delighted that the American people are going to give him four more years to lead this nation. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
My thoughts exactly.
We need to get America thinking about John Edwards. Imagine a President Kerry felled by stroke or heart attack, incapacitated or worse, and John Edwards taking over for him.
McCain on MSNBC now, saying that no president has EVER agreeed to talk to North Korea one on one........hehe......dumb Kerry.
KERRY: With respect to Iran, the British, French, and Germans were the ones who initiated an effort without the United States, regrettably, to begin to try to move to curb the nuclear possibilities in Iran. I believe we could have done better.
I think the United States should have offered the opportunity to provide the nuclear fuel, test them, see whether or not they were actually looking for it for peaceful purposes. If they weren't willing to work a deal, then we could have put sanctions together.
Dan
ping
This is great. May the REAL results of the debate start to appear. :)
Oh GOOD for McCain.
He comes thru "now and then."
It's another one of kerry's tests: give them the ingredients and see what they make!
He's really sticking up for Bush. He's disagreeing with almost everything Kerry said.
Overall I believe this debate was a draw, at least for tonight. Unfortunately for Kerry, he has opened himself up for numerous campaign adds and pundit attacks using his own words. The "Global Test" for the use of US intervention is an example.
Another is example is the fact that he voted against the Kyoto treaty before he was for it.
TERRIFIC! Cheney and his people caught it. Yeah!
Oh, but Kerry only voted for the Iranian nuclear fuel before he voted against it, and besides, it's a very complex matter that ordinary mortals aren't priveleged to understand....
btw, I love how Cheney picked up on Kerry's other gaffe and now it's off to the races!!! This "global test" comment from Kerry will soon be recognized as a MAJOR GAFFE. Oh, it'll be loved by liberals who won't understand what the fuss is about. But I am very confident that a majority of Americans will RECOIL at the idea that protecting our security is contingent upon passing any "global test" of approval, especially considering the sordid nature of so many of the world's regimes (and I include France, Germany, and Belgium under the label 'sordid').
Cheney highlighted Kerry's "global test" as the key to understanding the difference to two different approaches to being Commander-in-Chief. Yes, we will seek support of other nations, but we will NEVER condition our self-defense upon passing some liberal "global test" of permission!!!! Cheney has Kerry in his sights, and the Kerry hot air balloon is going down in flames!!!!
bttt
Yep. Bush caught it. A number of FReepers caught it. And Cheney too. It is a BFD;
1) The statement is at odds with the vast majority of the electorate
2) It reinforces the view that Kerry isn't serious about defending the US.
The Reps are going to run with this hard.
I think Cheney's remarks are telling of the Bush strategy.
Now bear with me on this, it may be a reach.
I don't think Bush's performance was a debating triumph. I do think, though, that Bush will be the winner in hindsight--that is on Nov. 2. In basketball, in an inbounds play, the defense will force a throw to see what the offensive plan is; there's a timeout and a readjustment. This is one of the three things that will come out of tonight. Remember, Bush had little to gain tonight--he's already winning on foreign policy. Kerry had a lot to prove.
1) The Bush team now knows what Kerry's plan for the rest of the campaign is--at least as far as foreign policy is. Also, his debate style is out there.
2) The Bush team now has numerous talking points on the campaign trail and on the TV news shows. Who won't forget global testing, unilateral nuclear disarmament, and giving nuclear fuel to Iran.
3) Bush showed America why he did what he did. And more importantly--that Kerry does not have a plan--only poll-induced talking points.
Talk amongst yourselves.
And what would President Kerry have been able to stammer out to Israel after Tel Aviv ceased to exist? "Sorry... It was just a test."
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